This is certainly a dilemma i can relate to. I have been spending many restless nights and stressful days recently dealing with this topic. Without question, Clipmarks is a business and needs to work out a way to make money. That said, i don't think advertising is the way to go because the size you need to reach is astronomical before this can really have an impact and it also negatively affects the user experience in a way i don't want to see happen. However, i can't imagine requiring everyone to pay to use clipmarks. The three ideas that have been bouncing around my head are: 1) make it free up to a certain limit (ex: 30 clips) then pay for continued use. 2) offer two versions, a fr... Maybe perks to those who donate so much. Keep the basic service free, but add some kind of bonus that people would be willing to give money to use. I can't think of many, but one that comes to mind right off the bat is an increased clip limit for a donation. Maybe the ability to edit posts. And, of course, titles that let people know someone is a donor (not a big deal to me, but I have noticed on some message boards that people really like that). I bet others can come up with some other things you can add for a 'premium version' of Clipmarks. Sell it to the big boys, they can keep it for free. I don't think any of the above options are sustainable and practical for long time especially number 3. Eric, thanks for your openness. I've been reading around this a lot over the last week or so - interesting range of approaches from, "Why is this free? Because I made it for myself, and it wasn't that much extra work to just let anyone use it. Or at least, it didn't seem like that much extra work at the time." - voo2do.com to a detailed discussion of the various business models around such as this, http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html. arif, I noticed you've popped in a comment between me starting and finishing this (my 2 year old just woke up from a bad dream - p.s. I run on GMT  ) - I posted a question on linkedin recently that posited that acquistion by google (I used the... What I have been noticing is that many developers are reinventing the wheels on daily basis, this social networking/bookmarking/community websites mad rush is getting out of hand. There aren't many mature crowd hanging on to these sites, especially not the ones who would pay up to stay loyal. The above clip doesn't represent me for sure because I have never paid for any web service in my life and I know Googles and Yahoos are still in business, so what has been their success factor? Things I'm seriously considering paying for: 1. flickr pro account (I've reached the limit of the free option and, although I can still upload pics, my old stuff is no longer visible. 2. linkedin - I'm facing major career upheaval in the near future and have been using it more and more recently to manage/track/develop contacts. that's about it though... arif, Eric have you ever paid for any online service? I've just, a propos of nothing, discovered that loopt will charging $2.99 per month as of May and fleck "will be offering a PRO package for $2.99 a month that offers more functionality than the standard and free package." Is $2.99 of some significance to US consumers? Ghiberti, I'm not sure about the significance of $2.99. Quite honestly, i haven't paid for much online, though the two services you reference are definitely proving it can happen. I know I'm not the only one that's been pleasantly surprised that Clipmarks remains free of ads and fees to this day. But I know it can't last forever. So just as an informal poll: Who would be interested in subscribing to a Premium version of Clipmarks if it were available? I know I would. Only thing which would probably prevent me from subscribing to premium service right now is the lack of effective tags system. I can upload my life here in an instant and totally depend on the service without any hesitation, but I'm afraid to do it without efficient index system for searching. Eric, don't forget about the lucrative Pay-for-Pops™ program, a guaranteed money-maker if there ever was one. You didn't hear it from me, but some people are already getting $10-15 apiece selling Pops out of their cars on the street. Might as well make it legal, right? Seriously, anyone else? but some people are already getting $10-15 apiece selling Pops out of their cars on the street.Are you looking at me? Because that wasn't me. What have you heard?! Seriously, I do wonder how long the current dynamic will last. I would pay for the social aspect of the site alone. I clearly like it: I've been here for a year. The question I ask myself is this: Am I still using Clipmarks so often a year later because of the site functionality or because of the quality of people that migrate here? Both probably, but how does this answer affect the revenue structure (and how would the revenue structure affect the functionality and the user base)? I hope someone has some good answers for you, Eric. |
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